If I hear one more time that walking is the best way to lose weight, I might throw a medicine ball at the dumbbell who says it. Don’t get me wrong, walking is better than sitting on your couch watching TV both in terms of fat loss and your health but after your body adapts to it, it provides little stimulus for fat loss. Any exercise is beneficial for your health, but we are talking fat loss here.

This goes for all types of slow and steady exercise, walking, jogging and all of the cardio machines. This type of exercise does nothing to preserve muscle and performing excessive cardio can actually break down muscle and slowing your metabolism making it harder to lose weight.

The problem is, the more cardio you do, the better you get at it. So you are burning LESS calories for the same amount of work. So you have to do more and more and more…in order to get the same result. Then at the point that you begin to lose muscle you will start to get fatter (even though your weight may stay the same or go down).

Think of what a sprinter looks like versus a marathoner. Marathoners look too skinny; because they have very little muscle as a result they have higher body fat percentages.

If you want to lose fat and improve your health you absolutely must maintain and preferably increase the size of your muscles. The more muscle you have the more calories you are burning even when you are sitting on the couch watching TV!

You can do this by performing resistance or strength training exercises. Many people are wary of strength training, fearing it will make them bulky or too muscular. For most women this is nearly impossible since they have significantly less testosterone than men, and it requires large amounts of food and hours every day in the gym. I recommend 2 – 3 full body workouts a week which could be as short as 30 minutes each!

You still need cardio; I am not recommending that you avoid all cardiovascular exercise, but perform it differently. Ignore the ‘fat burning zone’ charts in the gym and the ‘talk test’. These concepts are based on the idea that you burn a higher percent of fat calories with low intensity exercise than with high intensity exercise. That is partly true, BUT, does not take into account that you burn more TOTAL calories exercising at a higher intensity. PLUS high intensity exercise caused you to extra calories for HOURS after your exercise session.

Instead of an hour on the treadmill at a fast walk or jog, you should work in sprints and finish in 15 – 30 minutes. After warming up (5 – 10 minutes), push very hard for 15 seconds and then recover for 45 seconds. Repeat 5 times and then cool down for 5 – 10 minutes. Before you add more time to your exercise session, you can work harder for those 15 seconds increase the work to recovery ratio, i.e., work for 20 seconds and recover for 40, then 30 and 30.

High intensity exercise takes a lot out of you so you HAVE to shorten the exercise session. You get better results in less time! You can either perform your new shorter cardio sessions after your full body weight training workout or on the days in between.

If you are not used to working at high intensities you do have to build up to it. Start by pushing yourself just a little harder than normal and push a littler harder than that the next week.

For optimum fat loss you will still have to add in a supportive eating.

“When is the best time to exercise,” is one of the most common
questions I get asked by diabetics and non-diabetics alike. A
common belief is that low intensity cardio on an empty stomach
burns the most fat because carbohydrates are not available.

First, low intensity cardio is not the best for fat loss. The
fat burning zone is myth that does not take into account all
the calories burned during and AFTER the exercise session and
can actually cause you to lose muscle. If you want to lose
fat, then you must preserve your muscles.

Second, research has shown that there is no difference in
how much fat is burned during a moderate intensity cardio
session with or without food. It does make a difference at
lower intensities, but I already said that this is not
ideal. At high intensity training, you need some food to
maintain performance. So actually by eating a small amount
you are allowing yourself to exercise harder and as a result
increasing the amount of calories that you will burn hours
after your exercise session.

Third, you risk increasing the level of your stress hormones
and instead of breaking down fat, your body may break down
muscle. Again lowering your metabolism and pushing you in the
opposite direction of fat loss.

Exercising on an empty stomach can actually cause your blood
sugar to increase if you have diabetes. This seems very
strange since most of the time exercise helps to lower blood
sugar levels. Exercising tells the liver to release its stored
sugar or glycogen into the bloodstream but if there is not
enough insulin in the bloodstream the muscles cannot absorb
the sugar quickly enough.

People with diabetes must check their blood sugar before and
after exercise to determine their response to exercise. If
your blood sugar is very high (consult your health care
provider for the suggested level) then exercise could make
it even higher. This happens due to the stress hormones causing
the release of sugar into the bloodstream, often because of
limited insulin. If your blood sugar level is high test for
ketones in your urine. If there are ketones then you should
NOT exercise until your blood sugar is at a safer level.

Research is showing that you may be able to exercise safely
with high blood glucose level as long as there are not ketones
in the urine. Speak to your health care provider for specific
recommendations. In this case, keep the exercise intensity low,
because high intensity exercise can raise your blood sugar
levels even further.

Now, I know I just said to avoid low intensity exercise for
fat loss but under these conditions, preventing your blood
sugar from going higher is more important for your health
and the prevention of diabetic complications. All exercise
helps your diabetes even if it doesn’t promote weight loss.
I’d much rather you keep the habit of exercising than skip
it because it isn’t the most efficient for fat loss. Remember
you are exercising for both your health and fat loss. Your
health has priority over fat loss.

Exercise can also cause low blood sugar. As the muscles are
working they are absorbing sugar from the blood stream far
easier than they do when they are not working. If your blood
sugar is too low before you start exercising you must eat some
carbohydrates beforehand. This is not ideal for fat loss, so
timing your exercise session after you eat and avoiding the
peak time of your insulin is best. Depending on the length
and intensity of exercise your blood sugar can go low several
hours after exercise, making exercise close to bedtime risky.

OK, so what is the final answer? You must find a time 1 – 3
hours after you eat but away from the peak action of insulin.
The larger the meal, the more time you should wait. If you
must exercise in the morning, eat something small before
starting, such as low fat yogurt, a handful of nuts, something
that has some carbs, some protein and some fat.

There have been some reports on a recent research study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism that claims that diet and exercise are no better than dieting alone for weight-loss, fat-loss and body composition improvements. This report also says that exercise doesn’t preserve muscle mass.

Unfortunately, what the report fails to mention is what the participants of the study did for exercise. Apparently to most people exercise means steady-state aerobic training because that is the type of exercise used in the study, “Effect of calorie restriction with or without exercise on body composition and fat distribution.” So what the study did prove was that steady-state cardio exercise is equivalent to dieting for weight-loss.

I agree steady state aerobic exercise is not very helpful in fat-loss or muscle growth. So the study is really no big surprise. But the interpretation of the study does not specify the type of exercise and is very misleading. The suggestion is that all exercise is created equal which is absolutely wrong. The type of exercise is critical to losing fat.

Another study in Metabolism (1994 Jul;43(7):814-8), “Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism” demonstrated that high intensity interval training exercise created a 9 time greater loss in subcutaneous fat than the steady state cardio group.

That’s nine times, that means a 15 minute interval training workout creates more fat loss than a two hour steady state cardio workout out. Which workout would you rather do? This happens because high intensity exercise causes your body to burn excess calories for hours after the exercise session. On the other hand, steady state cardio just allows you to become more and more efficient at burning calories so you burn less and less each time for the same effort.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism study even mentions that high intensity exercise can have a greater effect on fat loss, insulin sensitivity and cholesterol profiles than lower intensity exercise. Why didn’t the report mention this?

Then of course, any legitimate weight loss program must include weight training. While the participants of this recent study did lose some muscle mass, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1993 Oct;58(4):561-5), “Muscle hypertrophy with large-scale weight loss and resistance training” demonstrates that even with extremely low calorie intake resistance training still causes an increase in muscle mass.

The report states that the one of the authors of the study, Ravussin, has published other studies that indicate that exercise does not increase muscle mass that increases weight loss. Well, here we are with what exercise means again. I agree, steady state aerobic exercise does not increase muscle mass. There is no question that resistance training does increase muscle mass.

Oddly the report states, “And their carefully controlled study added to the evidence that adding muscle mass does not somehow boost metabolism and help dieters take off even more weight.” Since both groups lost a small amount of muscle mass, this study could not possibly have come to this conclusion. Additionally, muscle is metabolically active tissue, many chemical processes are occurring inside muscle tissue and muscle creates movement, these things require energy or calories. Little happens inside a fat cell, it just stores fat. It is estimated that for every additional pound of muscle your body has, you burn an additional 50 calories per day.

So while you could lose weight through dieting alone or even dieting and steady state cardio, why would you? You can lose significantly more fat, faster by incorporating interval training and a resistance training program along with your reduced calorie diet.

Steady state cardio does have other benefits. All exercise is good for your health and disease prevention or reduction. Plus if you love to run, run. Enjoyment is a perfectly legitimate reason to something.

Exercise is an important tool in managing your diabetes in order to live a longer, healthier life.

1. Exercise increase insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. The key problem of Type 2 diabetics is insulin insensitivity, or insulin resistance. By exercising you can improve how well your insulin works; this helps you to control your blood glucose level.

2. Exercise improves your cholesterol levels. Exercise helps by raising the good kind of cholesterol (HDL) and lowering the bad kind of cholesterol (LDL). Exercise can also lower triglyceride levels. This is good news for diabetics as diabetics are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. I myself have had cholesterol problems, but between proper diet and exercise and no drugs, I now have a much healthier cholesterol levels.

3. Exercise can decrease blood pressure. Many diabetics also have hypertension or high blood pressure. Exercising can reduce both your resting blood pressure and your blood pressure during effort (including exercise). This is very important for reducing your chances of heart disease and stroke. I also used be on blood pressure medication, and have been able to get off the drugs. Because of the strong genetic component, this took more than just diet and exercise; I take several supplements specifically to help keep my blood pressure in the healthy ranges. I also work on stress management and meditate, but exercise is a key ingredient to lowering it in most people.

4. Exercise can also improve heart efficiency, and help it work less. This also helps with the cardiovascular risk factors. You will be able to exercise harder and it does not feel harder. This will make performing your daily tasks easier. Many people do not exercise because they think they do not have the energy. They need to exercise to get the energy. Your resting heart rate can also lower.

5. Exercise can improve your mood. Diabetes can be a stressful disease, exercising can help you feel better mentally. Exercise can even improve depression which can be an issue with a disease like diabetes.

6. Exercise aids dramatically in weight-loss and maintaining weight-loss. Specifically, the right kind and right amount of exercise aids in fat-loss and preservation of muscle tissue. Losing weight can improve blood pressure, insulin resistance, glucose levels, and cholesterol levels above and beyond what exercise alone does.

7. Exercise helps you to reduce your chances of diabetic complications. Better control of your blood glucose helps prevent serious complications of diabetes, including blindness, neuropathy, and kidney failure.

Please talk to your doctor and start exercising!
You will feel so much better!